EXPRESSING THE CH'I
“Mastery in ink painting is attained only when the hand,
exercising perfect control over technique,
executes what hovers before the mind’s eye,
at the same moment as the mind begins to form it
and the Chi flows freely”
In Australia, Master Cheng had shown us his mastery of calligraphy. He would spend a little time with intense concentration palpable, and when he "felt the Ch'i," commit his brush to paper with a burst of energy. The writing of Chinese characters is an art form, combining visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning of the word.
"The same Ch'i that powers martial arts drives the brush", giving the calligraphy a beautiful, flowing look and feeling.
Viewing a piece of calligraphy is said to be" like listening to a song or viewing a painting; we can 'feel' the weight of the artist’s brush, the speed of his strokes, the pauses, thrusts, hesitations, how he starts and finishes each stroke by placing and lifting the tip of the brush".
Ancient Chinese claim that a person’s true character is revealed in his calligraphy.
Creatively, once the Ch'i is felt, it can also be "expressed" through dance, song, poetry, adding a beautiful, mystical-like element and graciousness with 'hidden messages' that are a delight to discover.
I have now started to see some of the hidden messages in Chinese fine art, and appreciate the energy behind classic calligraphy.
When you start to grasp the concept of Ch'i, many ancient Chinese classics, calligraphy, and performance arts take on a vibrant and profound new dimension and meaning
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We were invited to the studio of a Master painter. Surrounded by both classic and contemporary style calligraphies, the Master pointed to a painting of a landscape, a "picture of serenity", hanging on the wall. Mountain peaks peeped out from misty clouds, pine trees grew on the pathways, and a river meandered through the countryside far below. A Sage stood on a cliff edge contemplating this scene.
He explained how this was subtly illustrating the flow of Ch'i through the landscape and were subtle maps of the passage and earthly flow of Ch'i, vitalizing all things, giving energy to all things animate and inanimate.
Master Cheng pointed out that in the West, the painter usually presents their interpretation of the physical. In Asia, the artist intends to communicate the living energy, the Ch'i, of what is being painted - the artist has to gain a clear inner vision of the life-energy of what is to be painted. Anything that does not communicate that vision is eliminated. Like a gust of wind or a flash of lightning, the brush touches the surface. Each stroke is spontaneous and permanent. To effectively do this demands an incredible technique.
The Master gave me a large contemporary "illustrative" calligraphy, which, with a few simple strokes, he had illustrated the concept "Meditating on the Wall", an explanation of this concept I will come to later. For the wall, he had painted one horizontal line, "sitting" on top of the line, he had painted a large 'U' with two small lines close to each other within it ...and that was it! Meditating on the Wall!
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